Otis College Alum Larry Li (’22 MFA Fine Arts) Receives Lakers Art Grant

Li’s work, exhibited as part of the NBA team’s In the Paint program, will be on view at the Band of Vices gallery through March 8.

The Los Angeles Lakers announced the recipients of the 2024-2025 In the Paint program last fall, and the selected artists’ work is currently being exhibited at the Band of Vices gallery in the historic downtown arts district through Saturday, March 8. Band of Vices is located at 1700 S. Santa Fe Ave. Suite 371, Los Angeles. 

Larry Li (’22 MFA Fine Arts) is one of just 10 local artists of color who was chosen for this honor by a selection committee of gallery owners and art collectors. As part of this program Li produced three original artworks for the exhibition that explore how expression produces triumph. He also received a $10,000 grant from the Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation, which was presented at the same game that basketball superstar Luca Dončić debuted with the team. 

Throughout the 2024-25 NBA season the Lakers have spotlighted the 10 artists’ individual stories and creative contributions to the Los Angeles community. The complete list of Lakers In the Paint artists includes Abby Aceves, Estefania Ajcip, Jessica Taylor Bellamy, Daryll Cumbie, Derick Edwards, Megan Gabrielle Harris, Marlon Ivory, Li, Ann Phong Michael, and Khoi Tran. 

For the In the Paint exhibition, Li created a series entitled The Cherries Are Bigger in America, comprised of three portraits of his mother that were inspired by her stories of immigration. They measure 48 by 36 inches each and are composed of acrylic, oil pastel, spray paint, gel transfer, and pumice stone on wood panels.

“The series reflects my mother’s journey, my own experience of becoming a father, and the cyclical nature of family, love, and growth across generations.”

“Each piece layers photo transfers onto textured surfaces, blending family artifacts with themes of identity and nostalgia. Centered on a memory of my father’s letters from America, the series reflects my mother’s journey, my own experience of becoming a father, and the cyclical nature of family, love, and growth across generations,” Li says in his artist statement. 

In describing his artistic practice, Li adds that he “combines the visual language of Chinese culture with historical and familial photographs in his paintings.” The intersections of familial and political histories are important in his work, which layers drawings, paint, and photo transfers in each piece. Some of the work he completed while he was an MFA student at Otis, for example, juxtaposes political protest images of the Tiananmen Square massacre with bright symbols from the artist’s childhood. 

“I use painting to explore cultural amnesia—making works about family, culture, history, and hybridity, depicting the intricacies of third culture identities,” said Li recently. “My Chinese American experience serves as a starting point for others to think about their own histories. I came to L.A. for school and found home here, inspired by like-minded creatives that share a common goal to see stories like ours in spaces we deserve to be in.” 

Li says receiving the In the Paint award has been an honor. “When I think about the Lakers I think about inspiration, like LeBron [James] and Kobe [Bryant]! That is something that art and sports share: the power to inspire and make someone feel something. My college professor Edgar Arceneaux always said making it in the arts is as hard as making it in sports. I’ve held onto that saying for all these years, and I think this opportunity is a small step in what it means to make it and to inspire,” Li has said. 

As for his own love for his city, Li says that Los Angeles is where he became an adult, having grown up in the Bay area. It’s where he decided to become an artist, where his son was recently born, and where he met “the love of my life.” 

Learn more about Li and his practice. Follow Li on Instagram. 

Visit Otis.edu for more information about the MFA program in Fine Arts. 

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